Peril Lurks In Cha Windows

3 Kids Fall From High-rises, But No Safety Measures On Way

May 14, 1993|By Patricia Callahan.

After three children in three weeks have fallen from windows at the Robert Taylor Homes, residents are wondering why the Chicago Housing Authority has the money to plant grass there but not to protect children.

As mourners watched Latifat Agbalaya kiss her 2-year-old son goodbye in his casket Monday, they questioned why the simple act of keeping a window open for air has become a life and death decision for some parents in CHA high-rises. Maurice Britton Jr. died after falling out of a 7th-floor window that had no guards or screens.

"A place where people live should be a place where kids can live," Georgia Owens, a family friend, said at Maurice's funeral.

Though the CHA has installed new energy-efficient windows with guards in some developments, Robert Taylor is not on the list for such improvements, according to CHA spokesman Andre Garner. The complex is being landscaped, however, and elevators, lighting and building security stations are being upgraded, he said.

Garner musters a slew of complicated explanations behind such funding decisions, but they make little sense to residents who live with a chronic sense of vertigo and an anxiety for their children in apartments that are stifling even on moderately warm days, and even with the windows open.

The guards are bars-horizontal or vertical depending on the direction the window opens-that allow residents to keep their windows open but prevent a child from climbing through.

Unlike those of New York City, Chicago building codes do not require guards for high-rise buildings. And although city building officials claim they "constantly review the situation," they have repeatedly concluded that the change doesn't need to come from them.

"A building code cannot replace or solve the problem of negligence in handling children," said city Building Commissioner Daniel Weil. Later, in an interview, Weil conceded that all apartments that have small children should have window guards.

Certainly many parents who live in the plentiful high-rises in the rest of the city may not even think about the issue: They have ceiling fans, screens, guards or windows and doors that open onto balconies. And many use air conditioning instead of opening windows in summer.

Apart from the guards, windows in the Taylor apartments where the three children fell also did not have screens.

Garner acknowledged that the CHA "did not have enough screens to go around," that many have worn out or have been stolen or vandalized. But he insisted that screens only keep bugs out, not children in.

Lavonne Smith, mother of 2-year-old Lamar Smith, who fell April 24 from a 10th-floor window, said she has asked for screens many times but never received them. Lamar was released last week from Wyler Children's Hospital.

"They tell you they don't have them and that you should come back on another day," she said. "You come back, and they tell you the same thing."

Garner called the recent falls "unfortunate accidents" but said that parents "share the responsibility."

"If every time someone was turning around a child was falling, we wouldn't have any children left in public housing," Garner said. ". . . You're making it out like it's really easy for these kids to just fall out windows. Obviously, some parents are keeping it from happening."

CHA circulates pamphlets on window safety, warning parents to supervise their children, keep furniture away from windows and teach children not to lean out of windows.

Garner said the CHA could not require guards on all windows because they violate city fire codes. However, he did note that the new windows with guards meet code because they are easy to remove. He said CHA didn't have funds to install new windows with guards in all buildings.

Between 1987 and 1992, 26 children have died from falls from heights in Cook County, according to medical examiner's records. Those records do not specify the nature of the falls.

Hospital workers say that with the onset of warm weather, the numbers will only increase.

"Every summer, every warm day, I can almost bet that when I come to work, there will be someone here who fell out of a window," said Martha Barthel, trauma coordinator at Children's Memorial Hospital.

"It's frustrating . . . when you look at their injuries and realize they are preventable."

Between July 1, 1990, and June 13, 1992, Children's Memorial admitted 19 children between ages 2 and 9 who fell from windows, according to records at the National Pediatric Trauma registry in Boston.

Dominique Hall, 2, fell May 6 from her 13th-floor bedroom window to the soft dirt below the building at 5100 S. State St. Her lungs were severely bruised, but she can now breathe on her own and was taken off a respirator Saturday at Wyler Children's Hospital. Her legs were broken, and she remains in casts from her waist down.